Was chatting with a friend about how time is the only variable thats squeezed commonly for productivity - and one which hits it upper bound very quickly - and its all downhill from there. So much so that a lot of managers actually equate productivity with the hours spent.

Here are some other variables to control....from my limited experience:

a. don't plan too much too soon or design in too much detail too early (XP) - expect changes.b. allow for learning curvesc. its ok to say it'll take more time. d. focus on improving skills, collective knowledge in team, dissemination (i dont mean 'seminars')e. true ownership/buy in. not a mill-malik/mazdoor relationshipf. breathing space. helps solve the big problems real quick. if you cannot breathe, innovation = 0oh yeah andg. a team is made of N individuals who are ALL different - different skills, strengths, usefulness, speeds, ways of working. Don't expect (N-1) clones of ur favourite drone. Thats counter productive. The idea is that the team does enough with each guy playing a role. Is everyone in a movie a central character ? Yet the story is impossible without everyone.

This whole thing started cause- this guy said he was in the UK and found the work atmosphere much more relaxed compared to the donkey-slogs people by and large define work-life as in India- I have been proceeding at a comfortable pace (for a startup) and producing much more than in my corporate avataars.